UCI Psych Ph.D Interview??

[justinerb]

Hello all! I applied for the Ph.D program in Psychological Science and just wanted to see when people heard back from them for interviews. It's the last week of December and I'm wondering if I should just accept that I am not receiving an offer and move on. Thanks! 

[MeloBook249]

On 12/26/2019 at 10:31 PM, justinerb said:

Hello all! I applied for the Ph.D program in Psychological Science and just wanted to see when people heard back from them for interviews. It's the last week of December and I'm wondering if I should just accept that I am not receiving an offer and move on. Thanks! 

I applied to there as well. Haven't heard anything from them either. I'm not sure if your POI is supposed to have an informal interview before you move on to the next step (official interviews) because a lot of schools are like this based on what I've seen in the forums, but it's weird that no one has mentioned receiving interview offers from UCI thus far. It could be (and I hope) that they may just send interview invites some time later via their department. 

Edited December 29, 2019 by MeloBook249

[Modulus]

I have applied to and interviewed at this program in previous years (2x).  In my memory, they made interview offers before Christmas, but I might be misremembering.  In any case they do a mass invite. I never had a preinterview.

[psi_squared_1]

On 12/31/2019 at 9:18 PM, Modulus said:

I have applied to and interviewed at this program in previous years (2x).  In my memory, they made interview offers before Christmas, but I might be misremembering.  In any case they do a mass invite. I never had a preinterview.

I actually received a call from a PI mid December and have my flights booked for in person interviews end of this month.

Could you provide any feedback and tips with your experience interviewing at UCI?

[Modulus]

Just now, psi_squared_1 said:

I actually received a call from a PI mid December and have my flights booked for in person interviews end of this month.

Could you provide any feedback and tips with your experience interviewing at UCI?

Sure! 

It was a great experience both times. I have dietary restrictions and they accommodated them easily. I also got my cross-country flights reimbursed within about a month from the visit. 

While I would have loved to attend the program (applied twice, after all), I'm ultimately glad that they sussed out that the fit wasn't quite right, because it honestly wasn't and I'm glad that led me to a different, perfectly fitting path. 

Admissions decisions are made by committee but there must be a faculty member who is willing to be your primary mentor. (That's where my issue came in--waitlisted both times. Second time was explicitly told that I had people who would work with me, but couldn't/wouldn't take me as a primary advisee. One faculty member who I met on interview day actually reached out to see if we could match our interests, but the fit was very poor.) 

The interview was pretty typical--interview with faculty of interest and a couple others in the program as well and meet with students. You will also get a tour of campus and the on-campus housing (subsidized rent!).  

Faculty and students alike were very welcoming and friendly. It seems like a great place to study. However, as someone who has never lived on the west coast and had never visited LA the first time, there was a bit of a culture/environment shock for me.  Irvine proper is a well-off and conservative planned community, and the university is very insular (many students and faculty live on campus), but I was assured that many students went to the beach regularly and to more culturally diverse parts of LA.

Feel free to ask any specific questions here or in PM.

[chililimeseeds]

6 hours ago, psi_squared_1 said:

I actually received a call from a PI mid December and have my flights booked for in person interviews end of this month.

Could you provide any feedback and tips with your experience interviewing at UCI?

Mind if I ask which concentration you applied under?